Sufix® line and VMC® hooks helped Seth Feider and Patrick Walters land big Florida bass and place in the top five in the first Bassmaster Elite Series tournament of the 2021 season.
Feider placed third in the Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River with four five-bass limits that weighed a combined 69 pounds, 6 ounces. He caught all of the bass he weighed flipping Texas rigged soft-plastic stick baits rigged on a 3/0 VMC® Heavy Duty Flippin Hook.
He flipped with 30-pound Sufix® 832 Advanced Superline® which was connected to a leader of 17-pound Sufix® Advance® Fluorocarbon.
VMC’s straight-shank Heavy Duty Flippin’ Hook features a double-spiked baitholder with opposing barbs that lock on softbaits. They incorporate resin-closed eyes that prevent line slip. A strategically placed keeper system exposes a 1/8-inch area between the eye and holder, allowing anglers to tie the perfect snell. The Heavy Duty Flippin’ Hook comes in three sizes: 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0.
Walters placed fourth with four five-bass limits that weighed a combined 68 pounds, 13 ounces. Walters primary pattern revolved around fishing a jerkbait and caught a majority of his fish with a 13 Fishing Loco Special (3-5’) in Black Lavender.
Walters used 12-, 14- and 17-pound Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon. “As I went shallower, I’d go to bigger line sizes,” Walters explained to Bassmaster.com. “It’s all to present the bait accordingly.” Patrick had the same jerkbait tied on several rods with varying line size, throwing the heavier line when fishing shallower and the lighter line when deeper. “When you find the bait they want to eat, you just have to figure out how to get it at the right depth.”
Developed with Gel Phase Technology™, Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon is incredibly tough, offering superior knot strength and incredible abrasion resistance, while offering the suppleness and sensitivity to help anglers feel those “light” bites. With 50-percent lower stretch than standard monofilament line, Sufix Advance offers exceptional lure control, ultimate bite detection and firm hook-setting power.
He also caught keepers on soft-plastic worms rigged wacky-style on #1 VMC® Neko® Hooks and secured in place with VMC Crossover Rings. He threw his wacky rigs on 20-pound-test Sufix® 131™ G-Core x13 Braid tipped with a 14-pound-test Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon leader.
Comprising a single strand of GORE Performance Fiber surrounded by 12 precision HMPE fibers, Sufix® 131™ G-Core x13 Braid is the most reliable braided line ever made. Perfectly round, it is smoother and quieter than others in its class. Featuring reduced internal abrasion, it won’t falter via weak points, guaranteeing reliability during casts, bites and battles back to your boat. Additionally, Sufix 131 increases the number of fibers at the knot, providing a better knot-cinch and stronger holding power.
VMC® Neko® Hooks feature a black-nickel finish, wide gap, 3-degree offset point, resin-closed eye and a forged, long shank. Numerous Rapala pros have relied on Neko Hooks to win and place high in top tournaments. They are available in four sizes: 2, 1, 1/0 and 2/0.
A new product that won an ICAST 2020 Terminal Tackle Best in Category award, VMC Crossover Rings maximize efficiency for rigging soft plastics and worms on VMC hooks to catch and land big bass. They feature a dual-channel hood for easy Neko or Wacky rigging. Specially designed Crossover pliers enable anglers to quickly insert soft-plastic worms into the rings.
Crossover Rings are available in three colors (clear, black, green pumpkin) and five sizes (4, 5, 6, 7, mm). They come 10 per pack. Made of lightweight, durable plastic, Crossover Pliers come with built-in compartments within the handles to store and organize Crossover Rings. Each pair of pliers comes with four 6 mm Crossover Rings.
Brandon Bags Big Bass with Heavy Duty VMC Hook
Rapala Pro Brandon Palaniuk caught one of the biggest bass of the tournament, a 9-pound, 8-ouncer, on a Texas-rigged soft-plastic bait rigged on a 4/0 VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook and a 1/4oz VMC Tungsten weight. He placed 14th in the tournament and split the event’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass award of $1,000 with another angler who also caught a 9-pound, 8-ounce bass.
See VMC® Heavy Duty Flippin Hook
See Sufix® 832 Advanced Superline®
See Sufix® Advance® Fluorocarbon
See Sufix® 131™ G-Core x13 Braid